Pass out the Cigars – 05.29.07

We’ve got kids! I’m not sure how many, but the Sapsuckers are bringing in food. If you look closely, you can see a very small grub on the upper mandible of the female. Sapsuckers drill a gazillion “sap wells” in the Aspens and than go back to collect mostly the insects attracted to those sap wells to feed the kids. I know this is the female only because her wing feathers are beaten to pieces. This comes from all the hours in the nesting cavity incubating the eggs.

I received a number of emails from last week’s posting asking if I map nesting locations. I do, but not in the traditional way. Using a Garmin 3+ (which seems to be discontinued now) and a Nikon MC-35, the GPS data is recorded right into the EXIF data of the file. Than, using the GPS Mapping feature in DigitalPro, where I was shooting is plotted on a TopoMap for me. Now the GPS unit is at the camera but DigitalPro tells you the distance you are from the subject (if you used autofocus) and the direction, so you can figure out exactly where the nest was located.

We’re on the road starting tomorrow, heading for our Oregon Coast DLWS event so I won’t see the “kids” for 10 days. I should get back just in time to see them peaking their heads out to be feed. I’ll post those images as soon as I get ’em. In the meantime, I’ll be posting images from our travels and the OR DLWS so stay tuned!